What does a 3D laser scan cost? How the price is determined

“What does a scan cost?” is the most frequently asked question in a first conversation. The honest answer: it depends. Not because we want to be vague, but because the price of a 3D laser scan depends on a number of specific factors. This article explains them, so you know what to expect and what you can influence.

NavVis VLX mobile scanner in use

Factor 1: Floor area

The size of the building is the most important factor in the price. An office building of 500 m² is scanned more quickly than a 10,000 m² factory hall. With the NavVis VLX mobile scanner, Crew-B scans around 1,500 m² per hour. An average office building or school can therefore be fully mapped in a few hours.

Factor 2: Complexity

Not every square metre is the same. An open-plan office floor is easier to scan than a plant room full of installations, or a listed building with ornamentation and changes in level. The more complex the space, the longer the scan takes and the more processing time the model requires.

Factor 3: Required output

A point cloud on its own costs less than a full BIM model. And an architectural model at LOD 300 takes fewer hours than a model including all MEP installations. The output determines a large part of the price:

  • Point cloud: the basis: A three-dimensional point cloud of the scanned situation, suitable for measuring, visual inspection, or your own processing.
  • 2D drawings: Floor plans, sections, or elevations generated from the scan data, directly from the point cloud or the model.
  • BIM model: A structured 3D model in Revit, IFC, or DWG. Architectural, structural, and, upon request, MEP (building services). The level of detail (LOD) determines the amount of work required.
  • Indoor viewer: A web-based environment in which you can digitally walk through the building, take measurements, and share locations. No installation required.
  • Model management via Autodesk Docs: A central platform for models, drawings, and documentation. Particularly relevant for larger portfolios or projects involving multiple stakeholders.

What each LOD level precisely covers dictates the workload involved in creating the model.”

Section through a 3D model

Factor 4: Number of locations

For multiple locations, we work with a standardised process. That lowers the cost per location, because the pilot phase (in which the modelling standard and naming conventions are set) only happens once. The more locations, the sharper the price per building.

Factor 5: Access and scheduling

Scanning during office hours is standard. For buildings that are only accessible outside working hours or at weekends, this may affect the schedule and the costs. Crew-B can usually be on site within five working days.

Factor 6: Available drawings

If usable archive drawings are available (floor plans, structural drawings, services layouts), they improve the quality of the final model. The scanner cannot see through walls: information about foundations, wall build-ups or concealed pipework comes from existing documentation.

What does it not cost?

A common misconception is that 3D laser scanning is expensive by definition. In practice, the opposite is often true. The cost of not scanning is often higher: failure costs due to incorrect drawings, additional work due to unforeseen situations, extra site visits for measuring. In our article on 3D laser scanning versus traditional surveying we set out that comparison.

How do you get an estimate?

The quickest way is to get in touch with a short description of your project: the type of building, the approximate floor area, the number of locations and what you want to do with the data. Based on that, we prepare a tailored quote. On our page on 3D laser scanning from intake to delivery we describe the full process.

Projects we have completed

56+ clients across 7 countries. Within 5 years, over 2,000 scans have been completed.

  • Boerenbond Petsplace or Odido

    Boerenbond Petsplace or Odido When a retailer switches to a new store concept or interior, it often isn’t about one location, but about dozens of stores that need to be renewed in a short time. We’ve been involved in the renewal of Boerenbond/Pets Place stores and the transition from T-Mobile to Odido, among others. For…

    Read more: Boerenbond Petsplace or Odido
  • Basic-Fit

    Basic-Fit

    BASIC FIT For Basic-Fit we’ve scanned more than 1,300 existing and newly built locations over the past 5 years. The Digital Twin was set up on the basis of the scan. Basic-Fit uses this data for the delivery of the locations, facility management, all smart systems in the club and much more. Ask about the…

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  • CS Arnhem

    CS ARNHEM Bartiméus is an organisation for the care of people with a visual impairment or blindness, and Atsence offers a solution for indoor navigation, so visually impaired and blind people can orient themselves in public spaces. A wonderful solution! Atsence uses our scan data for their software and asked us to scan Arnhem Station.…

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  • Elysee Pavilion Paris

    THE ELYSEE PAVILION In collaboration with Hypsos, we scanned and modelled this beautiful pavilion on the Champs-Élysées. To temporarily change the layout of this pavilion in preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris, we had to model all elements such as ornaments and ceiling mouldings accurately.

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  • Kenaupark Haarlem

    KENAUPARK HAARLEM We fully 3D scanned this beautiful monumental building in Haarlem for a local architect and worked it up accurately in Revit. With monumental buildings, no situation is the same and existing drawings are far from always complete or current. An accurate record of the existing situation therefore forms a valuable basis for further…

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  • Monkey Town

    MONKEY TOWN Monkey Town is expanding into Germany, and we give every project a great start! Mülheim is the first location we scanned for Monkey Town with our mobile scanner. We used the point cloud to develop the existing situation accurately into a BIM. The BIM, exported DWG and PDF are delivered to the German…

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  • Museumplein 1 Amsterdam

    Museumplein 1 We scanned this beautiful building with our mobile scanner and also carried out an archive study. On the basis of the scan combined with the archive documents, the architectural and structural model was set up to BIM basis ILS. With the scan as the starting point, of course, so it’s an accurate copy…

    Read more: Museumplein 1 Amsterdam
  • NEMO

    NEMO A special application of our 3D scans! For a client that specialises in indoor navigation, we deliver point clouds and 360° images that are used as the basis for navigation in buildings. Via an app on the phone, a user can be navigated through the building with the help of the camera and augmented…

    Read more: NEMO
  • PICNIC

    PICNIC Commissioned by Picnic, we scanned a hub in Amsterdam with the VLX and set up a Digital Twin on the basis of the point cloud. Hubs are the smaller distribution centres your groceries come from. Prior to this process, we had to set up a template with elements that recur in a Picnic hub.…

    Read more: PICNIC
  • Stadion Galgenwaard

    Stadion Galgenwaard In collaboration with MVSA, we scanned FC Utrecht’s stadium so they can make a flying start on their project.Using GPS systems in combination with the VLX, we were able to model the stadium accurately in Revit on the exact coordinates.With the help of two scanners, we scanned the stadium as efficiently as possible…

    Read more: Stadion Galgenwaard
  • Zandvoort Rotondeflat

    Zandvoort Rotondeflat

    De Rotonde Flat in Zandvoort: a complete building mapped from a representative sample Anyone who has crossed the central square by Holland Casino in Zandvoort knows De Rotonde Flat. The building is a local landmark, an old and distinctive block that divides opinion: some find it ugly, some find it beautiful, everyone knows it. Buildings…

    Read more: Zandvoort Rotondeflat
  • Halls

    Halls

    Reuse of halls This client specialises in building halls, but also in dismantling and reusing existing halls. An existing hall is carefully taken apart, sold and then rebuilt at another location. An important challenge here is that original drawings are often missing, outdated or no longer match the actual situation. That’s why we fully scan…

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  • Fort Benoorden Beemster

    Fort Benoorden Beemster In the middle of UNESCO World Heritage Site the Beemster lies Fort Benoorden Purmerend, part of the historical Defence Line of Amsterdam. Several forts of this former defensive line have since been given a new purpose. In this case, the fort is in use by a wine wholesaler. Commissioned by a local…

    Read more: Fort Benoorden Beemster
  • Municipality of Haarlem

    Municipality of Haarlem

    Municipality of Haarlem Everyone from the Haarlem area knows this beautiful, stately building. Commissioned by the municipality, we 3D scanned the entire building inside and out and captured the existing situation accurately in digital form. We delivered the resulting point cloud in both E57 and RCS format, so the scan data is broadly usable for…

    Read more: Municipality of Haarlem
  • Hoge Duin en Daalseweg

    Hoge Duin en Daalseweg We fully 3D scanned this beautiful villa on behalf of an architect. On the basis of the point cloud, we then worked the existing situation up accurately into a Revit model. Because a 3D scan only captures what is actually visible and measurable, we supplemented the model with information from available…

    Read more: Hoge Duin en Daalseweg
  • Johma

    Johma: unifying a 30,000 m² factory complex in a single digital model Anyone who has walked the Johma site sees not one factory, but a chain of building sections that have grown together over the years. Every extension brought its own column structure and its own dimensions, and for many sections no accurate drawings existed…

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  • Church Hoogwoud

    Church Hoogwoud

    Church Hoogwoud No current drawings of this church, part of the municipal property, were available. To properly prepare future maintenance, management and renovation works, we were asked to map the complete existing situation accurately. With our mobile 3D scanners, we captured the church both inside and out. The resulting point cloud forms an accurate digital…

    Read more: Church Hoogwoud
  • Rijksmuseum

    Rijksmuseum

    Rijksmuseum Every so often our work takes us to a very special place. This time: the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, after closing time! Commissioned by our client, we got to fully 3D scan all publicly accessible parts of the museum. An impressive environment where historical architecture, art and technology come together. With our mobile 3D scanners,…

    Read more: Rijksmuseum